In Tamarindo, tourist shops dotted the beach community, and vendors hollered cheap prices at the passing people. Local surfers and tourists alike filled this busy beach - not unlike what we have back home. There is no question that had the National Park of Playa Grande not been established back in the mid 1990s, Playa Grande would have the same heavy human traffic as Tamarindo. The leatherback turtle population would be even less than it is today. Turtles do not like to come to shore to nest if there are too many artificial lights, and if by chance a turtle does nest on such a busy beach, the likelihood that the eggs will hatch is slim.
Las Ventanas was my assigned section for nightly beach patrol with North Carolinian biologist, Jacob. Statistically, this beach does not have as much leatherback nesting action as the other two sections. Nonetheless, we suited up. High Tide was at 3:40 a.m., so I prepared myself for another long night.
We left at 11:00 p.m. Jacob and I chatted about his research and science. His knowledge of biology is matched by his passion, and I enjoyed our conversation. After a couple of hours the unthinkable happened on Las Ventanas: leatherback tracks! We went up to her, and she was trying to dig her egg chamber. However, as soon as she scooped sand from the hole, surrounding dry sand fell in. I felt sorry for her; she was working so hard, yet making so little progress! She finally gave up and scooted to another area to begin again.
While she attempted her second egg chamber, Jacob and I needed to sweep our section to make sure no other leatherbacks had come to shore while we were with this turtle. This is standard protocol for the scientists, as egg chambers take about 20 minutes to dig. So, we high-tailed it to the other end of our section and back in less than the expected time. Nothing like a little speed walking in sand before you work with a turtle! By the time we returned to our girl, sweat poured down my brow. But, she had outsmarted us; she had already started to lay her eggs.
I lay behind her and placed the temperature wire in the nest, while Jacob performed his duties. No identification tags were found. That meant she was a new turtle to this beach! This is great news, as it means that hatchlings which hatched on Playa Grande approximately 15 years ago are returning to nest. This is exactly what the scientists want in order to ensure the continuation of the species. Jacob tagged her by injecting a microchip in each shoulder of the turtle. This is the same process by which household dogs and cats get tagged; in fact, the tags come with a "in case if found, return to" trinket to put around a collar. I got to keep this as a memento.
After the work was done, we continued our patrol. Grant and Esha, on the South beach section, radioed that they had a leatherback. Yay! Nick and Maria, on the North beach section, then reported a another new leatherback. Hurray! The tide rose, and the walk in the dry sand proved to be strenuous. Just as we finished our shift at 4:40 a.m., the shoulder strap of my backpack ripped. I recalled my first patrol on Las Ventanas on the first night, where both of the soles of my old hiking boots came off. Las Ventanas was beating me (and my equipment) up. But at least we saw a turtle!
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